13:17-92 "Meadowlands Conservation Trust Fund."

6. a. There is established in the Meadowlands Conservation Trust a trust fund, to be known as the "Meadowlands Conservation Trust Fund," and the moneys therein are to be held in those depositories as the State Treasurer may select. The State Treasurer shall deposit into the trust fund all moneys: (1) received as a grant or other form of aid by the trust or by the State and designated for the trust; (2) given, donated, bequeathed, or endowed to the trust from public or private sources; (3) received as rent or as a royalty by the trust or by the State on behalf of the trust; (4) received as net revenues from the Division of Motor Vehicles in the Department of Transportation in connection with the issuance of Meadowlands conservation license plates as provided pursuant to sections 9 through 14 of P.L.1999, c.31 (C.39:3-27.100 through C.39:3-27.105); and (5) appropriated or otherwise made available to the trust by the State. The moneys in the trust fund are specifically dedicated and shall be utilized only for the purposes of the trust as set forth in this act. Such grants, contributions, donations, and reimbursements from federal aid programs as may be lawfully used for the purposes of the trust as set forth in this act shall also be held in the trust fund. Moneys in the trust fund shall not be expended except in accordance with appropriations from the trust fund made by law. Any act appropriating moneys from the trust fund to acquire land shall identify the particular project or projects to be funded by the moneys, and any expenditure for a land acquisition project for which the location is not identified by municipality and county in the appropriation shall require the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee or its successor. Pending their application to the purposes set forth in this act, the moneys in the trust fund shall be invested and reinvested as are trust funds in the custody of the State Treasurer, in the manner provided by law. Net earnings received from the investment or deposit of moneys in the trust fund shall be redeposited therein and become part of the trust fund to be used only for the purposes of the trust.

b. (1) No moneys in the Meadowlands Conservation Trust Fund shall be utilized for the development of any land for any purpose or for the acquisition of land that will not remain in a natural or largely natural or undeveloped state, except that up to 5% of the moneys annually received and deposited into the trust fund may be utilized to pay for development of sites to allow for public access and environmental education and interpretation and for the development of trails, and up to 2% of the moneys annually received and deposited into the trust fund may be utilized to pay for promotional and program awareness efforts.

(2) No moneys in the trust fund shall be utilized to pay or discharge the principal of or interest on any indebtedness incurred for any purpose by the trust or any other governmental entity.

c. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, any proceeds returned to the trust or the State from the conveyance of lands acquired by the trust with moneys from the "Meadowlands Conservation Trust Fund" or from other sources shall be redeposited therein and become part of the trust fund to be used only for the purposes of the trust.

L.1999,c.31,s.6.